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Published: July 18th 2010
Beautiful Simpson Desert
Red sand and wildflowers are a fascinating combination.When I told anyone we were planning to cross the Simpson Desert, I got one of two reactions.
One was a plastered smile and a frozen, panicked stance as they struggled to decide if I could be serious or not, and if I was serious, what on earth they could say to someone who was obviously deranged. They always knew I was different... and now this definitely confirmed it.
The other reaction was one of utter surprise but I could see their mind processing it all and concluding with WOW what an awesome thing to do! I guess there were reactions in between these two but generally people were either horrified or they could appreciate what an adventure this would be for us.
Did we have much preparation for the trip? What a laugh! We prepared for 6 months! I’m exhausted thinking about it.
New suspension, shock absorbers, new tyres, dual batteries, winch, reinforcing bits and pieces everywhere, UHF radio (Sandy now has reinstalled it for the 4th time backwards and forwards between different vehicles), tray back off the ute, canopy bolted on, modifications to everything, long drawers made (expertly by Nathan) for under the canopy
to carry all the recovery gear and spare parts and tools. Gavin did a completely new fit-out of the canopy with slide out drawers for the stove, fridge, food, clothes and every possible detail we could think of to make setting up camp and packing up as fast and easy as possible. I even had running water with a proper tap.
Luckily Australia has lots of remote places so we get to use all this gear more than once!
The desert can be a bit of a scary place when you think of safety, so we decided on a tag-along tour where we would have the security of having an experienced guide to help if anything went wrong.
A tour...Ooooo....we thought. It’s really “ not us”, going on an organized tour, but we figured we would be in our own vehicle all day and everyone cooks for themselves so if we didn’t like it we could just put in a token appearance each night at the campfire and then be loners. Well, I guess if we’d really thought about it we would have realized that the sort of people who choose to do this remote travelling
will all be of like minds and that is exactly how it was.
It was so nice to be with people who revelled in the isolation, the challenging roads, the tough landscape and that feeling of being such an insignificant speck in the scheme of things. No-one cared about the luxuries that seem so important at home. All we wanted was to be there. I still want to be there.
There were seven 4x4s, one guide, 10 intrepid explorers aged between 21 and 70, male and female, and everyone from such completely diverse walks of life that it seemed to be such a mishmash at first. It didn’t take long to realize that in essence we had so much in common, so no-one had to explain why they so wanted to be there as we all completely understood each other without having to express it. I usually feel that I have to justify why we go to lonely places for our holidays as most people just don’t get it. Everyone there got it.
Did we see much besides lots of sand dunes? Well yes, but considering we crossed 1,100 dunes, they did tend to dominate but in
Chambers Pillar
The pillar can be seen from far away. a magnificent way. The sand is the deepest burnt orange colour and the yellow, white, purple and pink wild flowers all along the tops of the dunes contrasted so beautifully. The tracks were made by oil exploration teams and run in straight lines for hundreds of kilometres, so the view from on top of a dune looking back from where we came and then turning around and looking to where we were heading, was quite a sight. This little skinny track disappearing on the horizon in both directions, making it feel like a very lonely place... but we LOVE lonely.
First stop after Alice Springs was Chambers Pillar, an impressive sandstone column that can be seen for miles, making it an important landmark for those brave early explorers. They carved their initials in the soft sandstone and unfortunately many others since have defaced it. At sunrise and sunset it’s at it’s most dramatic, glowing red and yellow. Thankfully the road isn’t very tourist friendly or it would be on most people’s must do list.
The dirt road is atrocious and an offshoot took us to Lambert Centre of Australia. If Australia was balancing on a pin, this is
Ice on the roof of the Nissan
It really was freezing at night - even my sleeping bag had ice on it in the morning. Brrrr! where the pin would be. Nothing much really to see there except a monument, but it was still good to visit. Here we were in awe of a group of people who were doing their first leg of the Desert MultiMarathon, running 640 km across the Simpson Desert, raising money for breast cancer research. Four runners were attempting to run 44 km per day for 15 days, over the rocks and then the energy sapping dunes. We regarded driving over it as an experience, but running?
Mt Dare Hotel was our one and only taste of civilization where we enjoyed a delicious steak, and very friendly service, then filled up with the last available fuel for the journey ahead. After here it would have been easy to think we were back in civilization if it wasn’t for the punishing rough road over the gibber plain. There were so many vehicles on the road and with the chatter on the UHF radio I thought that this was not turning out to be the remote journey we really wanted. What a relief when someone pointed out that most of them would have come up from the Oodnadatta Track and would
visit Dalhousie Springs before continuing up to Alice Springs and leaving us alone.
We swam and luxuriated in those very warm springs... and then shivered when we got out and hurriedly tried to put on our bulky warm clothes as fast as we could. There were fences and paths and bollards and people everywhere and it was so artificial, so touristy, so good to leave. How annoying that we didn’t do this trip even 5 years ago before progress took over!
On to Purnie Bore to camp for the night, to finally find ourselves alone. The water from the bore was hot, but after our warm swim earlier, I think most of us stayed in our warm clothes and forewent the pleasure of a proper shower until Birdsville, 5 days ahead. I can visualize you all having the vapours at that thought. Well it was literally freezing, and besides, where’s your pioneering spirit!!!
Each afternoon we would collect firewood for the campfire that night, where we would sit and talk and laugh and throw some steak on the plate when we could be bothered. It was all so laid back and we had a “go with
Deflating the tyres at Colson Junction
Lower tyre pressure is essential for sand driving. the flow” attitude, which translated, means we sat back, relaxed, thought of nothing but the present and didn’t want to leave.
This is where the dunes really started and we had five days ahead of us, crossing those 1,100 dunes and having the time of our life. It’s all about correct tyre pressure when you’re in the sand, so we had all the fun without the dramas of getting bogged.
There are only three tracks across the desert, none of them maintained. The most direct and most popular track is the French Line, but when we turned off this and travelled south to the less travelled, more remote WAA line, our expectations of the crossing were a reality. It was a relief really, as we didn’t have to listen to the inane chattering on the UHF about what people were going to have for dinner or to have a running commentary about every bump in every dune they crossed. They spoil it for everyone else and it’s so unnecessary as there are plenty of other stations to chat on while still being able to scan for channel 10, the official channel for the Simpson Desert. This is used
Our rig
We tried to get it dirty but we couldn't! to alert other travellers of your position because of the very real danger of colliding head on at the top of the dunes.
Two and a half days of travelling without seeing another person! Silence at last!
The rain over the last two years has meant a very green desert with many lakes, not what we expected. At night the milkyway was so dense with stars that it was like a cloud across the sky. Sunrises and sunsets were stunning. Huge salt lakes suddenly appeared and their vastness surprised us many times. The days rolled past, as did the dunes.
The Lone Gum, Poeppel Corner (where QLD, SA and NT borders meet), Big Red (the highest dune at 30 metres) and finally Birdsville. Then it was all over.
It has been so strange in the past week or so since we arrived home, as every time I stir during the night, I find that I am still in the desert, still being part of that landscape that won’t let me go. All night, every night, I’m dreaming that I am there still. How can sand and sky do that to someone?
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Julie Hansen
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How amazing and vast the country looks. I know that you would have had a fantastic trip. So few of us will ever do the trip, you are pioneers!!!!!